Hermione's Helping Hand
by TheRavenclawAthena
Summary: What would have happened if Hermione had said Draco was her date to Slughorn's party when Filch dragged him in? Read this to find out! The main ship is Dramione, with hints of Hinny. Please follow, favorite, and review!


"Are you going with anyone to Slughorn's party, Harry?' Hermione posed the question in front of the Gryffindor Common Room while looking at Harry and blatantly ignoring Ron and Lavender, who were busy snogging on the other side of the room.

"Yeah, I'm going with Luna," he responded, a corner of his mouth twisting into a wry smile. "You know, couldn't get my first choice obviously…"

Hermione smiled and looked sympathetic. They both knew who Harry would really like to be going with: Ginny Weasley. But they also both knew that she'd be going with her boyfriend Dean Thomas. "Well, at least you're going with someone," she said with a sigh.

Harry looked at her, surprised. "Wait, you mean…You're not going with anyone?"

She shook her head. "There's no one I want to go with. I was actually thinking of asking you, as friends, but…well, you should stick with Luna. I doubt she's ever been invited to a party before."

Harry grinned. "I seriously doubt it. Hey, I know someone who'd love to go with you." When Hermione gave him a curious look, he continued with a smirk. "Cormac McLaggen."

Hermione slapped him with her papers. "Oh, and you can go with Romilda Vane," she retorted.

"Point taken," he said, looking horrified at the prospect, and the two started laughing, earning them some glares from studying Gryffindors.

The day of the party dawned cold and bleak. The students hurried around the castle's corridors, trying to get to their classes, which would hopefully be warmer. Potions, with both Snape and the frigid dungeon, was practically torture.

Harry and Hermione headed to the Common Room after classes. After awhile of studying, they both went to their dormitories to get ready.

"See you in an hour?" Harry asked.

"See you then," Hermione responded with a smile.

She entered her dormitory and began getting ready, talking with Parvati and ignoring Lavender. It wasn't that Hermione liked Ron; they were nothing more than friends. But Lavender had taken Ron away from her and Harry, and the two missed their friend.

Hermione put on a pretty red dress and heels, did her makeup, and fixed her hair. She wasn't really sure why she was putting such an effort into looking good: It wasn't like there was anyone who was going to be at the party whom she cared what they thought about her. But nevertheless, she was pleased with the finished result.

"I love your dress, Hermione!" Parvati squealed.

"Thanks, Parvati, yours too," Hermione responded with a smile.

Hermione left the other girls, who were still getting ready, and went to meet Harry. He was waiting for her at the bottom of the staircase that separated the boys' and girls' dormitories.

"Wow, Hermione, you look great," Harry said, looking her up and down.

She smiled. "You don't look too bad yourself." And, because she couldn't resist, she added with a smirk, "Betcha Ginny will look pretty tonight."

He blushed. "Really, Hermione?"

"Sorry," she said unapologetically, laughing. "But you know it's true."

He sighed. "Fine. It is true. But it doesn't matter, because she's going with Dean."

"Don't give up, Harry. I've heard their relationship's been on the rocks for ages… She doesn't seem too happy these days."

He rolled his eyes. "Right. I'll keep that in mind. Now I've got to go meet Luna; I'll see you there."

"See you, Harry," she said, making her way to the party.

The ceiling and walls had been draped with emerald, crimson, and gold hangings, so that it looked as though they were all inside a vast tent. The room was crowded and stuffy and bathed in the red light cast by an ornate gold lamp dangling from the center of the ceiling in which real fairies were fluttering, each a brilliant speck of light. Loud singing accompanied by what sounded like mandolins issued from a distant corner; a haze of pipe smoke hung over several elderly warlocks deep in conversation, and a number of house-elves were negotiating their way squeakily through the forest of knees, obscured by the heavy silver platters of food they were bearing, so that they looked like little roving tables.

Shortly after Hermione arrived, Harry and Luna came in. Harry met Hermione's eyes and they shared a smile at Luna's loudly-spangled robes. But, thankfully, she at least wasn't wearing her dirigible plum earrings.

Hermione made her way over to them. "Hey, Luna," she said.

"Hello, Hermione," Luna said absently before drifting off to discuss the Rotfang Conspiracy with Professor Trelawney.

Harry watched her with an expression of half-amusement, half-admiration. "She's an odd one, that Luna," he commented.

"That's an understatement," Hermione responded with a laugh.

He opened his mouth to respond when Dean and Ginny walked in, Ginny looking, as Hermione had predicted, beautiful in an emerald green dress.

"Hello Harry, Hermione," she said, smiling and waving at them before walking off with Dean to talk to some other Gryffindors.

Hermione looked at Harry pointedly.

"Shut up, Hermione," he muttered.

"I didn't say anything!" she protested, laughing at his expression.

"Whatever. Come on, let's get some food."

As the two headed across the room, Harry ran into some fellow Gryffindor Quidditch players, and they struck up a conversation about Quidditch. Hermione, uninterested in the subject and seeing McLaggen making his way over to them, slipped away from the group and went to talk to Neville, who was busy handing out drinks.

"Thanks, Neville," she said, accepting the Butterbeer he offered her. "Did you -"

Her words were cut off as an angry Filch rushed into the room, dragging someone behind him. It was Draco Malfoy. He was wearing a black suit and his hair was messy from his encounter with Filch.

"Let me go," he hissed through clenched teeth, trying to pull free of Filch's iron grasp.

"I discovered this boy lurking in an upstairs corridor. He claims to have been invited to your party and to have been delayed in setting out. Did you issue him an invitation?" Filch wheezed.

Hermione wasn't sure why she did it. Maybe it was the hunted look on his face, or the way his eyes searched the room for someone to help him. But regardless of the reason, Hermione handed her Butterbeer forcefully to a bewildered Neville and made her way to where Draco was standing.

"I did. He's my date," she said defiantly, glaring fiercely at Filch as if daring him to disagree. She turned to Draco. "Draco, I've been waiting for you for simply _ages_. What took you so long?"

Draco's eyes searched her questioningly for a moment before he spoke, not missing a beat. "Sorry, Granger. Lost my way in a corridor…bloody confusing, this castle." He gave her an apologetic smile, and she had to admire his acting skills.

Slughorn came up and said in a booming voice, "Well then, everything's cleared up! Filch, do let the poor boy go, Christmas goodwill and all that, eh?"

Filch let go of Draco grudgingly, knowing he'd lost his fight, and exited, muttering foul insults under his even fouler breath, and Slughorn disappeared among the throngs of people. Hermione and Draco faced each other.

"What the hell was that all about, Granger?" he hissed.

"I think a simple thank you would suffice," she said coldly.

" _A thank you_? Now I'm stuck pretending I actually _like_ you all evening; you owe me an apology."

"Oh, that's how it is? I'll just go and get Filch then; maybe he'll string you up by your ankles like he's been threatening to do."

"No!" Draco said quickly, and then tried to feign nonchalance. "I mean, do what you will, Granger. Your company or the dungeon…hmm, tough choice."

"What exactly _were_ you doing out there?" she asked suspiciously, ignoring the insult.

"We mustn't pry into things that are of no concern to us, Granger," he replied.

She rolled her eyes. He was simply infuriating. "Fine, have it your way, Malfoy," she muttered, turning away from him and crossing her arms.

After a few more moments of tense silence, he sighed dramatically. "I suppose I've got to thank you, or else you'll ignore me and no one will ever believe we came together and I'll have to hang from Filch's ceiling, right?"

"Glad you've caught on so quickly, Malfoy."

"All right, then. Well, thank you very much for…well, for whatever you did." His voice was questioning, and she knew he was asking why she'd helped him out.

"Because you looked scared, Malfoy. And I knew you weren't lurking around corridors just hoping to gatecrash this party. So what were you doing, anyway?" She kept her voice totally innocent, hoping he'd fall for it and tell her what he'd been doing.

"That's not going to work on me, Granger," he said with a laugh, and she glared at him. Then he turned serious. "The truth is, I really can't tell you." She looked skeptically at him. "Honestly. If I told you, I'd have to kill you…and that would just be messy, wouldn't it?"

She could tell he was being sincere, and that kind of scared her. Whatever he was up to, it was serious.

"All right, Malfoy. If you won't tell me, I'll just find out myself. And I will find out, trust me."

He laughed. "Okay, Granger. I'll keep that in mind."

She tried to glare at him, but ended up laughing too. Malfoy was the most mysterious person she knew; even she'd be hard pressed to discover his secrets, and they both knew that.

"Oh God, Snape's coming to talk to me," Draco said suddenly in an alarmed voice, dragging Hermione behind a curtain in the corner of the room.

She looked at him questioningly once they were concealed in their hideout. "I thought you liked Snape?" she asked.

"I tolerate him, but right now I'm not in the mood for another one of his speeches," he whispered back.

Hermione wondered what Snape would want to speak with Malfoy about, but the thought was erased from her mind as she peered out from behind the curtain and caught sight of McLaggen. He was striding purposefully across the room, and Hermione knew he was looking for her.

She threw herself back behind the curtain, accidentally ramming her elbow into Draco's ribs.

"What was that for, Granger?" he demanded, rubbing his ribs.

"Sorry," she said unsympathetically. "It was McLaggen; he's been trying to capture me under the mistletoe all night."

She didn't know what reaction she was expecting from Draco: maybe coldness or sarcasm. But instead, he erupted into laughter.

She forced her hand over his mouth to stifle it. "It's. Not. Funny," she hissed.

He moved her hand from his mouth. "Oh, but it is, Granger." He began laughing again. "This is the image I'm getting, Granger. McLaggen ensnaring you with his tentacles under the mistletoe and you trying to break free -" His laugher stifled his words.

Hermione began laughing too, in the middle of insisting that it wasn't funny, which just proved him right and made him laugh harder.

"What do you say we come out from behind this curtain and act like civilized humans, Granger?" Malfoy asked as soon as they stopped laughing. He made a great show of peering out to make sure there was no McLaggen in sight. "I think you're safe," he said in a stage whisper.

Hermione rolled her eyes and punched his shoulder. "Shove off, Malfoy."

He smirked at her annoyance. "Whatever you say, Granger," he replied with mock obedience.

As they came out from behind the curtain, the lights faded even more and a slow song came on.

"Dance with me, Granger?" Draco asked. "All for the act, of course," he added quickly as Hermione looked at him curiously.

"All right, Malfoy," she responded. "Just a second."

She hurried over to where Ginny was standing. "Where's Dean?"

"Oh, um…Hermione, we've been on the rocks for ages and we kind of had a fight…" Ginny said. Then she whispered in Hermione's ear conspiratorially, "I'm honestly glad it's over."

Hermione gave her a quick hug. "You know what? You should go ask Harry to dance."

"All right, then," Ginny responded with a smile, heading over to Harry.

Hermione returned to Draco with a satisfied smile on her face.

"What was that all about, Granger?" he asked.

"Oh, just a bit of matchmaking," she responded airily, her grin kind of contradicting her nonchalant manner.

"Girls," Draco muttered before putting his arms on Hermione's waist. She put hers on his neck and they swayed to the music.

It was comfortable, she thought, to be so near him, breathing in his scent. Some kind of expensive cologne. It smelled good, sophisticated and manly, and to Hermione it was a bit heady.

The song ended, and they pulled away slightly, looking into each other's eyes. Hermione's heart began pounding. She had the sudden urge to kiss him. _Kiss him_? What was wrong with her?

She dropped her arms from his neck and turned slightly, her emotions in turmoil.

"What's wrong?" he asked concernedly, turning her towards him again.

"Nothing," she replied, shaking her head and avoiding his eyes. She forced herself to meet his gaze again. She was a Gryffindor, after all. "Just tired is all," she lied.

He nodded. "I'll walk you part way."

"All right, Malfoy," she said with a small smile. He smiled back.

The two walked out of the party together. Hermione noticed Harry and Ginny standing together talking to each other and smiled. They made such a cute couple.

Hermione and Draco kept up a friendly banter as they headed down the hallway. Something had changed during they'd shared. Or maybe it had been the moment of eye contact afterwards. But whatever it was, Hermione's heart now fluttered when he looked at her, when he smiled and smirked at her. And she could tell his feelings for her had changed, too. It was in the expression in his eyes, in the way he said her name.

When they reached the spot where the corridors to reach the Slytherin and Gryffindor Common Rooms branched off, Draco turned towards her. "You wanna know something, Granger? I didn't have that bad of a time after all."

She smiled. "Me neither."

"Night, Granger."

"Night, Malfoy."

And with that, both of them headed off to their Common Rooms, thinking of each other and wondering if it'd be possible to see each other again.


End file.
